Although Padma Lakshmi has been spending much of her time in Washington D.C. lately, whereÂ Top Chef‘s current competition is being filmed, her heart is in New York City. After her divorce in 2007, Lakshmi moved into her own bohemian-inspired East Village apartment. She opens her doors to give fans a peek into her fun, relaxed style that includes a swing in the living room…

Padma Lakshmi is proud of her East Village apartment which she decorated entirely on her own. She thinks it’s a reflection of her greatest asset: her good taste.Â ”Whether it’s my taste in food, my taste in clothes, my taste in music, furnishings, or art,” Lakshmi tells Harper’s Bazaar, “that is the one skill I have, and it can be applied to anything.”

TheÂ Top Chef host’s New York City apartment is an eclectic mix of fashion, bohemia, and a street fair. “There’s always food, always music and candles and incense,” Lakshmi says. “I’ll have a girlfriend who’s a DJ stop by for a drink. My girls walk around barefoot. It’s like Andy Warhol’s Factory, but in gypsy-girl mode.”

Lakshmi’s favorite part of the apartment is the giant swing in the center of her living room. It was built for her by a friend after she searched, without luck, to find one online.Â ”You really swing!” she says.Â ”I thought it would be a really romantic thing to have. If I can’t sleep, I come out here and swing in the dark.”

At the end of the day, Lakshmi is just happy that her apartment is a reflection of her. “There was no interior decorator who came into my apartment and said, ‘This would look kitschy and great.’ There wasn’t a ghostwriter who said, ‘It would be cool if you had an essay about Morocco in your cookbook,’” she says. “The things I’ve accomplished have really been on my own steam. For good or bad, every word, every picture, everyÂ taste is mine.”